Dark Jedi Knight James Roberts-Brannigan is currently serving as the Aedile of Independent House Revan. James is dedicated to his fellow Revanites and his House.
Character History
Childhood
Age 6 James Singleton Roberts-Brannigan was born in a family of military men to John Solomon and Carrie Anne Roberts-Brannigan, formerly of Alderaan. His parents had been off world at the time of the destruction of Alderaan on Coruscant receiving James's grandfather Jacob's Imperial Medal of Valor, awarded 20 years after he had won it in the Battle of Parcellus Minor as a gunnery officer on board an Republic warship.
After the destruction, which claimed the lives of Carrie Anne's parents as well as most of James's extended family, the family would resettle on Chandrila, where the Roberts-Brannigans became members of the Rebel Alliance. John Solomon joined the New Republic Special Forces in 8 ABY. He married Carrie Anne and the two began a family, James the second child, being born in 10 ABY. When he was a child, he discovered that he had an amazing gift. He could push things away and pull things towards him by thinking it.
During a short leave from his unit after returning from a tour in the field, his father took James to the theatre to experience a holodrama. After they left the theatre and stopped at a shop to buy his mother a bouquet of flowers, the two were surrounded by a group of muggers. Believing the life of his son was in danger, John Solomon Roberts-Brannigan killed the criminals, but was stabbed in the process and died of a sucking chest wound afterwards. His father's death would push James to study the secrets of Jedi Healing later on in the Jedi Praxeum.
Joining the New Jedi Order
Eliza CaldariHis mother sent him away to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, after the death of his father, knowing he would make something of himself as a Jedi. It took a few weeks for the feelings of homesickness to go away, something that James held against his mother for a number of years before he realized that she was trying to give him a better life and forgave her. He would spend the next six years at the Praxeum learning and maturing into a young man. While at the Praxeum, he would strike a friendship with Master Eliza Caldari, one of the most important influences over his development.
He became a master of the quarterstaff in his years at the Praxeum, a result of constant drilling by Master Caldari. He would also excel in Vim, a Zabrak martial art that specialized in the usage of the staff. James was on the path to becoming a Jedi Guardian and a highly skilled one until the destruction of the Jedi Praxeum changed his mind.
Destruction of the Jedi Praxeum
James's moment of realization would come during the Battle of the Jedi Praxeum where the citizens of the New Republic would take up arms against the Jedi and collaborate with the Yuuzhan Vong as members of the Peace Brigade. For the first time in his life, he was truly angry, directed at the humans hunting down Jedis who were trying to save them from what was to come had the Yuuzhan Vong won the war. He understood that the "Peace" Brigade would not have been as successful in hunting down the Jedis without help from high level traitors within the New Republic. James was no longer an idealist who believed in protecting the people of the New Republic, the same people who would throw the Jedis under the metaphorical bus if they believed they had a better chance of surviving by killing their protectors. The destruction of his home would be the beginning of his transformation.
Aftermath
He would spend the next part of his life as the apprentice to Eliza Caldari, his mentor during their days on the Jedi Praxeum. The pair would be present at the First Battle of Coruscant, Second Battle of Gyndine, Second Battle of Ylesia, and the Liberation of Coruscant. Master Caldari was killed during the final day of the Liberation of Coruscant fighting along the Heretics against the The Elite, angering James even more since the Heretics were fighting harder than the people of the New Republic had during the war. The death of Eliza Caldari proved to be the catalyst in James leaving the Order, feeling that the people had lost any reason for the continued protection of the Jedi.
The three years of war he had experienced had only left him in disgust at the people and the politicians who paid the price of incompetence with the blood of soldiers, good men like his father and grandfathers. He was happy that he had played a part in the Second Battle of Ylesia, where countless members of the Peace Brigade were killed and the leadership captured. He was angered however that Thrackan Sal-Solo was not executed for his treason during the war.
The Brotherhood
Indoctrination
James's anger towards the New Republic for the events that took place during the Yuuzhan Vong war would lead him to an isolated location on Chandrila, where he would spend several years residing in peace, training and meditating. Eventually, he received a call from an old friend of his who had been just as turned off as he was by the treacherous conduct of the people, inviting him to Independent House Revan. James would find his way to the meeting location and be transported to Lyspair for initial training in the Shadow Academy, where he learned of the Dark Jedi, their lore and history. After taking the Academy Trials several months later, James would be posted in Independent House Revan.
A Master Received
James received a Master sometime soon after he was assigned to House Revan. OT Eiko Lanzer, the Quaestor was impressed with his hard work and dedication to his Journeyman trials and took on the young Protector to guide him through the rest of his trials. The two have a friendly relationship, something more than the cordial relationships many apprentices develop with their Masters. James knows that Eiko has his back in peace and war and extends the same to his master.
A Young Aedile
Somewhere in the middle of 35 ABY, the House Summit was reshuffled. Callus stepped down from being Aedile to concentrate on being the House's Rollmaster, a far more important role dealing with the recruitment and retention of ambitious journeymen, an oftentimes overlooked role to the survival of the House. James was elevated to become the Aedile. At once, he realized that he had far too big shoes to fill and he set out to master the role of the Aedile. As Aedile, he has sought out guidance from those above him. Eiko has taught him quite a bit about being an Aedile. He has also reached out to Ashia Kagan Keibatsu, who once was Aedile of House Revan and held several leadership positions within the Brotherhood.
Characteristics
Physical Description
James Roberts-Brannigan is of average height for a human, standing at 6'1". Possesses an athletic build through years of swimming and running throughout his time at the Academy, he has the endurance to keep going through hardships for days on end. The worn down look that most Jedis have after serving a few years has not caught up to him yet. Some would scoff and disregard him due to his adolescent and innocent enough looking face and end up regretting their oversight and underestimation of his abilities.
James wears the common black and grey robes you would see within the Academy. He hasn't found anything that has perked his attention long enough to produce an extravagant fashion statement. But the robes are kept clean and the boots shined and polish for a squared-away look. He honors his robes, a symbol of the Brotherhood, out of respect for those who had worn the robes and gave a part, if not all, of themselves to the survival and furtherance of the Brotherhood. Often, he will wear a beaten brown leather cloak to keep the elements away from him. He has worn this since his days at the Academy, often to the disdain of his fellow students and teachers who were unwilling to challenge him as not to earn the wrath of Eliza Caldari. Out of the Academy now, no one has yet challenged him on it. A few have even paid complements to his cloak.
Personality
James Roberts-Brannigan is humble and shy, a far cry from the average Dark Jedi. But underneath this humility is a forceful personality. People who have dismissed him on his passiveness and perceived adolescence have been burned. Make no mistake, James is not in the business of posturing. He is very much a predator, willing to smile and bow to a fellow Dark Jedi looking for a fight only to crush his skull in with a bottle when the egoist turns around, his pride glowing.
But he is a combination of ethics and analysis. Seeing himself as a Grey Jedi, he will argue with orders he believes unethical. At the end of the day however, if he is unable to change his superior's mind, he will carry out that order is if it were his. His downfall, some have predicted, will be that he cared. James sees himself as part of something bigger and tries to live his life without causing ripples, a reason why he has adjusted to House Revan so well. He stresses a philosophy of slaying those that will harm society, his house, and his fellow Revanites and helping where ever they are needed.
Possessions
Quarterstaff
The wooden quarterstaff was the first weapon that James mastered during his time in the Praxeum. He kept the quarterstaff that was given to him as a teenager by Master Eliza Caldari as a gift and placed it on the wall of his quarters above his bed. It is his most familiar weapon and one that he uses in training, preferring the whack of wood over the zap of an electro staff while teaching those who want to learn the art of the staff weapon.
DLT-20A
James found a factory new DLT-20A for sale during the Yuuzhan Vong War and bought it. He cut off six inches from the front of the DLT-20A as well as replaced the power source and built a quad fire selector system on the rifle. The result was a carbine that could fired weaker bolts as fast as a blaster rifle and more powerful bolts of a long rifle as well as a stun setting and an ion setting. The carbine was accurate up to 200 meters. The state of the art power source allowed him to fire up to 600 blaster bolts or 120 sniper bolts (where 30 had been the norm before the modification). After firing almost 20,000 rounds, he had fixed all the kinks to the factory new rifle and considered it his masterpiece.
Relationships
Eliza Caldari
File:Caldari2-NPC.jpgEliza Caldari Master Eliza Caldari was a Jedi Master and an instructor at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 who had taken an interest in him a year after he entered the New Jedi Order. She taught him how to fight with the quarterstaff from a young age, being an expert with pole weapons and saberstaves. She would later serve as his master during the Yuuzhan Vong War, where she was killed in the Liberation of Coruscant. Eliza Caldari served as James's surrogate mother, mentoring him from a child to his days in combat. Had she not died during the Liberation, James would have stayed in the Order as her apprentice.
Zeke
File:Zeke-NPC.jpgZ3-K3 aka Zeke
Z3-K3, or commonly referred to as "Zeke" was a droid that James built in the Jedi Praxeum's machine shop with the help of construction droids as a child. He is constructed of transparisteel and is equipped with an older Intellex IV computer and voice synthesizer, allowing him to speak. Zeke has developed a lot of quirks over the years due to James's refusal to wipe his memory banks, but remains very loyal and faithful to James. James has upgraded Zeke throughout the years, making him one of the most versatile droids, intelligence wise. Not only is Zeke capable of slicing security systems and operating starships, he is capable of researching and developing as well as understanding literature and human interactions.
One of the first things James did after creating Zeke was downloading the entire library database catalog in the droid's memory files. After creating a program that allowed Zeke to sort through the hundreds of thousands of titles, Zeke became an important part of James's studies, running to the library to borrow the materials that he thought James needed. Zeke became a legend in the Praxeum for his ability to accurately sort through and decide materials resulting in other students paying Zeke to do the same for them.
During the war, Zeke was a valuable member of the team, saving Eliza and James from doom several times as well as being their slicer in several covert missions in between the major battles they fought. After the war, Zeke was able to manage the day to day chores that James had neglected in his deep concentration, keeping the isolated habitat quite clean and livable by buying and controlling lesser intelligent working droids.
Eiko Lanzer
Eiko Lanzer serves as the Quaestor of Independent House Revan. He and Callus Bo'Amar made up the House Summit at the time that James entered House Revan. After James proved himself to be a dedicated, hard worker and impressed Eiko, he was invited to be Eiko's apprentice. Eiko became his Master, following the footsteps that Eliza created. James has nothing but utter respect for his master and supports him however he can. But this does not necessarily mean that James has utter obedience to his Master. On the mission to the ancient Sith battleship, James literally jumped his way into the mission by utilizing an airlock to jump over to the other ship after being told by his Master to stay on board the Deep Ice.
Facts
DJB Facts
- Was the first apprentice to OT Eiko Lanzer as a Protector (PRT) with only six days in the club.
- Applied for the House Revan Rollmaster position and was given the Aedile position.
- 1st Place with the most amount of matches played in Brotherhood Gaming in July 2011.
- Contributed greatly to Revan's win of Gaming House of the Month in July 2011.
- Was named DJBWikipedian of the Month for August 2011.
Positions Held